Rotatable display cabinet

ABSTRACT

A rotatable display cabinet having a rotatably mounted central post removably supporting essentially sector-shaped shelf members of basket type at several horizontal levels around said post. Each basket has upper and lower support stays merging into transverse pieces adapted to be secured in holding hooks arranged at different horizontal levels around said post, each such holding hook being capable of receiving both the transverse piece of the upper stays of one basket and the transverse piece of the lower stays of the basket positioned immediately above the firstmentioned basket.

O United States Patent 1 1111 3,833,128

Sumner Sept. 3, 1974 [5 ROTATABLE DISPLAY CABINET 3,538,863 11/1970 Howard etal. 211/131 x 3,701,437 /1972 Spiik 211/133 [75] Invent 31? vgraysbury Dl9l,8l2 11/1961 Tirlet 211/128 x ames, ng an FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLIC Tl N [73] Assignee: Moderna Butiksinredningar AB, A 0 S Molndal Sweden 932,166 7/1963 Great Brltam 211/144 1221 Filed: Ja 23, 1973 Primary ExaminerRamon s. Britts [21] APPL NO: 326,095 Attorney, Agent, or FirmNewton, Hopkins &

. Ormsby Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Feb. 8, 1972 Sweden l485/72 A rotatable p y Cabinet having a rotatably mounted central post removably supportingessentially 5" sector-shaped shelf members of basket type at several [58] Fieid "5 133 181 horizontal levels. around said post. Each basket has 211/132 129 upper and lower support stays merging into transverse f pieces adapted to be secured in holding hooks ar- 312/135 108/94 103 ranged at different horizontal levels around said post,

each such holding hook being capable of receiving [56] References Cited both the transverse piece of the upper stays of one UNITED STATES PATENTS basket and the transverse piece of the lower stays of 1,235,225 7/1917 Miller 211/58 the basket positioned immediately above the first- 2,290,530 7/1942 Blackmon 211/78 mentioned basket 2,678,253 5/1954 Rosenberg 211/131 X 1 3,047,158 7/1962 Scholl 211/126 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures ROTATABLE DISPLAY CABINET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an arrangement in rotatable display cabinets of the type comprising a central post rotatably mounted on an undercarriage or support stand, and sector-shaped shelf elements of basket type being removably supported at several horizontal levels about the central post.

Various constructions of this kind of display cabinets are already known. In accordance with one construction, the shelf elements are mounted between wall sections secured in the post and supported by brackets attached to said wall sections.

In accordance with another prior art construction the shelf elements are provided with hooks intended for engagement in slots in the-post and they are supported on plates resting on brackets extending radially from the post.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the present invention is to provide a display cabinet of the type mentioned in the preamble, this cabinet being more simple and less expensive to manufacture than cabinets hitherto known, very easy to assemble and, in addition, forming in its assembled condition a sturdy and powerful structure. In accordacne with the invention this has been realized by the provision on the baskets of upper and lower support stays merging at the innermost and narrowest basket portion into transverse pieces, and by the provision on the central post of holders positioned at different horizontal levels, said holders being in the shape of books arranged around the central post and adapted to support both the transverse piece of the upper support stay of a lower basket and the transverse piece of the lower support stay of the basket positioned immediately above.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention the baskets have a hook-shaped element at its one side wall, this element being arranged to engage, in the mounted position of the baskets, the sidewall of the adjacent basket. This hook-shaped element adds in a simple and reliable manner to the stability of the construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described more in detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a side view of the display cabinet in accordance with the invention, the cabinet being illustrated partly diagrammatically, FIG. 2 is a side view of the central post with some basket suspended thereon, FIG. 3 is a perspective view, illustrating on an enlarged scale one shelf plane, one basket having been lifted off, and FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate details of the display cabinet on an even larger scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The cabinet in accordance with the invention comprises an undercarriage or support 1 which in accordance with the embodiment illustrated in the drawings consists of a cross with swivel wheels 2 at the extremity of each arm 3 of the cross. The support need not necessarily be a cross but could just as well consist of a stand or foot of some kind, supported directly on the ground.

Through the support 1 passes a vertical shaft 4 retained thereto by means of a screw joint, not shown. At the upper end of the shaft 4 a thrust bearing 5 is provided. The central post 6 of the display cabinet, which post preferably consists of a tube is rotatably mounted in said bearing 5. Lower, intermediate and upper holders in the shape of hooks 7, 8 and 9, respectively, are mounted around the post 6, equidistantly spaced, in the vertical plane. In the embodiment illustrated, the holding hooks 7, 8 and 9 consist of flanges which are bent upwards relative to flat annular discs, these discs being threaded over the central post 6 and preferably welded thereto at the desired level.

Sector-shaped baskets 10 are supported in these holding hooks 7, 8 and 9, these baskets preferably being made from wire of metal, synthetic resin or plastic-covered metal. Each basket is provided with one upper support stay 11 and one lower support stay 12'. At the innermost and narrowest portion of each basket 10 these support stays 11 and 12 merge into transverse pieces 13 and 14, respectively (see FIGS. 3 and 5). The transverse pieces 13, 14 may engage in the holding hooks, the lower ones, 7, of these books being adapted to receive only the transverse pieces 14 of the baskets 10 making up the lowermost shelf plane, and the intermediate holding hooks 8 being adapted to receive the transverse pieces 13 of the immediately lower baskets as well as the transverse pieces 14 of the immediately upper baskets while the upper holding hooks 9 receive only the transverse pieces 13 of the baskets making up the uppermost shelf plane.

On one of their sidewalls 15 the baskets 10 are provided with a hook-shaped element 16 which, when the baskets are positioned around the central post 6, engage with the immediately adjacent sidewall 17 of the neighbouring basket. The hook-shaped elements 16 keep two neighbouring basket walls 15 and 17 of two separate baskets 10 together, preferably while exerting a certain clamping action, and thus prevent rattling when the display cabinet is being rotated or displaced.

When the baskets 10 are wire baskets, as in accordance with the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the hook-shaped element 16 preferably form an extension upwards of one of the wires 18 making up the basket sidewall 15. In this case, his also advantageous, for the purpose of economy of material, to design the baskets 10 in such a way that the wires 18 forming the basket sidewall 15 are offset laterally relatively the wires 19 forming the opposite sidewall 17 of the basket (see FIG. 4), an arrangement permitting comparatively. large gaps between the wires 18 and 19, respectively.

The cabinet in accordance with the inventiornis cons structed in such a simple manner that, alayrnan, with-1; out receiving any particular instructions; and without;

the aid of tools of any kind, is able to assembleithe.cabi net in a very short time. The assembling is carriedout in the following manner. First, the shaft 4 is attached: on the undercarriage or stand 1 which is delivered as a complete unit with the swivel wheels mounted thereon. The attachment of the shaft is most easily carried out by screwing the shaft from the bottom face of the stand by means of a sturdy finger nut, not illustrated in the drawings. The central post 6 is thereafter threaded over the shaft and the baskets lllsecured in the holding hooks 7-9 by hooking the basket transverse pieces 13, 14 into the hooks, beginning at the lowermost shelf plane into hooks 7-8 and continuing with the intermediate planes into hooks 88 and finally at the upper most plane into hooks 8-9. When assembling the last basket 10 of each plane or level the basket is moved towards the central post 6 while being held in a position inclining obliquely to the right as most clearly understood from FIG. 3 such that upon hooking of the transverse pieces 13, 14 into the holding hooks 8, the sidewall 17 is allowed to slide in underneath the hook-shaped element 16 of the basket to the right while at the same time the hook-shaped element 16 of the basket being mounted is allowed to engage with the sidewall 17 of the basket to the left. Und some friction, the basket is thereafter turned into position in the horizontal plane.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment as described and illustrated but various modifications thereof are possible within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, each holding hook 7-9 may consist of a twin hook, positioned at each angular transition between a transverse piece and a support stay.

Naturally, the device in accordance with the invention may be utilized for other basket structures than those made from wire.

What is claimed as invention is:

1. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets of the type comprising a support, a central post rotatably mounted on said support, and essentially sector-shaped shelf members in the form of baskets, said baskets being removably supported at several horizontal levels around said post, the improvement comprising, upper support stays and lower support stays each of said baskets, said stays merging at the innermost and narrowest portion of said baskets into transverse pieces, holders in the shape ofhooks provided in said central post at different horizontal levels, said holder hooks being arranged around said central post and supporting both a tansverse piece of said upper stays of a lower basket and a separate transverse piece of said lower support stays of the basket positioned immediately above, said latter transverse piece overlying the transverse piece of the lower basket.

2. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets as claimed in claim 1, comprising a hook-shaped element on one side-wall of said baskets, said hook-shaped element being adapted to engage with an adjacent sidewall of the neighbouring basket.

3. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets as claimed in claim 2, wherein wires form said basket sidewalls, said wires extending between said upper stays and said lower stays of said basket, the improvement comprising said hook-shaped element forming an extension upwards of one of said wires forming one of the sidewalls of said basket.

4. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets as claimed in claim 3, comprising said wires forming one sidewall of said baskets being laterally offset relatively said wires forming the opposite sidewall of said baskets. =I 

1. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets of the type comprising a support, a central post rotatably mounted on said support, and essentially sector-shaped shelf members in the form of baskets, said baskets being removably supported at several horizontal levels around said post, the improvement comprising, upper support stays and lower support stays each of said baskets, said stays merging at the innermost and narrowest portion of said baskets into transverse pieces, holders in the shape of hooks provided in said central post at different horizontal levels, said holder hooks being arranged around said central post and supporting both a tansverse piece of said upper stays of a lower basket and a separate transverse piece of said lower support stays of the basket positioned immediately above, said latter transverse piece overlying the transverse piece of the lower basket.
 2. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets as claimed in claim 1, comprising a hook-shaped element on one side-wall of said baskets, said hook-shaped element being adapted to engage with an adjacent sidewall of the neighbouring basket.
 3. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets as claimed in claim 2, wherein wires form said basket sidewalls, said wires extending between said upper stays and said lower stays of said basket, the improvement comprising said hook-shaped element forming an extension upwards of one of said wires forming one of the sidewalls of said basket.
 4. An improvement in rotatable display cabinets as claimed in claim 3, comprising said wires forming one sidewall of said baskets being laterally offset relatively said wires forming the opposite sidewall of said baskets. 